Not One Of Them
by Bling Bling Euro necklace
Summary: COMPLETE - The tragic tale of an infected man's struggle to keep his humanity while helping four survivors get to the roof of Mercy Hospital.
1. Yoga

Not One of Them

By Bling Bling Euro Necklace

Rating: PG-13 just to be safe

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead. It is property of Valve. This is sort of based on a dream I had a while ago. Please review but no flames.

Chapter 1 - Yoga

He crouched down, watching the four humans as they exited the building. He could smell them, the hunger was almost overpowering. All he had to do was separate one of them from the rest and-

No, he was not like that. Not yet anyway. He was still alive. The infection hadn't quite reached his brain.

He pulled the hood of his sweater back over his face. Maybe they wouldn't see him in this corner.

The smell of human flesh was overpowering, however. He was so hungry as well. It felt as if he hadn't eaten in days. Perhaps he could catch another one of those who had already succumbed to the infection. He let out a low growl.

"Quiet! I hear a hunter!"

It was too much. He needed to control himself. The stench of their fear was intoxicating.

"Once we get through the subway, we'll be that much closer to Mercy Hospital. if we can get to the roof, then the helicopter should take us from there."

That was it! Perhaps it was his way to get to a cure. There had to be a cure. He now had a plan. He just had to get to them.

With several bounds, he found himself near to the four survivors. They had amazingly enough not been infected.

"There he is! Watch out!" the woman in the group screamed.

"Wait! Don't shoot me! I'm not one of them!" he cried out. "I'm still a human, I promise!"

He was afraid. They all stood in front of him, their guns aimed at him. The fear nearly paralyzed him.

"He's a hunter!" the dark skinned one shouted.

"No. My name is Mike Thompson. I work at the yoga studio up the street. I was out jogging when I was attacked. I just need to find a cure!"

He looked up at them. He recognised one of them vaguely. The one with the tattoos. That was it! Francis DeCarlo. He came into the yoga studio every tuesday. He was one of his best students.

He knew that Francis recognised him as well. They all cocked their weapons

"Please! Don't kill me! I'm not one of them yet!" Mike growled.

"How can we trust you won't turn on us?" The old man in the group said.

"I can help you get to Mercy Hospital. I've observed the infected. I ... I know how they think. I can help you. In turn, you try and get me to the cure."

"We don't even know if there is one!" The dark skinned one said.

"There has to be."

He looked at each of them. Perhaps the hoodie was frightening them. He sat up on his haunches and began to pull the hood off. He looked up at them to see the horrified looks on their faces.

"Is it really that bad?"

"So that's what they look like under that hood!" Finally his former student was speaking. "God, is it really you, Mike?"

"You know him?" The woman asked.

"Yeah. I know him. For the record, I hate yoga," Francis said.

"Please ..."

They all exchanged looks. He knew they weren't going to accept him. It was too dangerous.

"I could help protect you against them. They would just think I was one of them." He said, hoping to sway them."

"Well, what do we have to lose? We may not even get up to the rooftop anyway," the old one said. "You can come with us, but one wrong move-"

"I know and I accept that." Mike said. "But I promise you will not have to worry about that. I will help you."

With that, they turned and began to head for the subway. Mike cautiously rose up on two legs and followed. No need to walk on all fours for now.

He was not allowed to sleep in the safe room with them. It was just not safe, and he was aware of that. He sat outside the door, huddling for warmth. He could hear the scuffling of feet to his left. He looked over. That was one thing he would miss if he was cured, the incredible night vision. He crouched low. His victim wouldn't know what hit it.

The infected man didn't even know what hit him. While his flesh already tasted rotten, he was still a meal and that was all that mattered. Mike ripped him open and feasted on him. He had to accept this part of his life for now. At least he was still alive.

He finished his meal and crawled back over to the door. the rotted flesh made his stomach ache, but he needed to keep it down. He rose on his feet and looked into the safe room. What made them so special? Why weren't they affected at all? Perhaps if he ate one of them...

No. That was a terrible idea. They were his only ticket to the cure, if there was one. He sighed and laid down in front of the door. He had to get his sub-human instincts under control if he was going to get help.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

He turned in the direction of the dripping. Water! All of this inner struggle had distracted him from his debilitating thirst. He ran in the direction of the dripping. It wasn't a very large puddle, but it was enough.

He began to scoop water out of the puddle. It was delicious, moistening his bloody lips and slaking his thirst. He looked down at the puddle. The hood covered his eyes. He could see his stubbly chin and the blood on his lips and teeth. He pulled the hood back and recoiled at the sight of his own reflection. His face was covered in sores and his eyes were a dull yellow. His hair was matted and shaggy. He didn't even resemble his old self.

Mike wept.


	2. That Was Uncalled For

Not One of Them

By Bling Bling Euro Necklace

Rating: PG-13 just to be safe

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead. It is property of Valve. This is sort of based on a dream I had a while ago. Please review but no flames.

Chapter 2 – That Was Uncalled For

A few hours later, he heard the door to the safe room opening. He looked back up at the survivors. He did not feel hungry for them right now, which was a good thing, but he knew that he didn't have long before he would be craving their flesh again. He sighed.

"Shall I run ahead and make sure the coast is clear?" Mike growled.

The old one nodded and Mike was off. He leapt into the air with a shriek, letting anyone around know that the hunter was here.

As he landed on the ground, he could hear the skittering of his claws on the tile of the subway station. He stopped and sniffed the air. Something was not right. An acrid smell filled his nostrils. Could they smell it?

"Guys? I think that-"

An earsplitting scream interrupted him. He raced back to where he had left the humans. Why didn't they follow him closer?

He saw the female human being strangled by a long tongue. Several of the other infected were leaping to her to claw at her. A hunger began to bubble up in him. It was HIS kill.

No. Mike had to suppress his urge to leap on her. This was his ally. He followed the tongue upward. It belonged to an infected man up on the upper level. He had only one shot at this. He coiled up completely, aiming high.

He shot up as if his back legs were a spring. Even he was amazed at this. As he stretched out his arms, he could see the surprised expression on his victim's face. Hopefully, he wouldn't try to defend himself.

With a shriek, he made contact, making the creature lose his grip on the woman. He began to rip him open, tearing at his rotting flesh with his claws. The cloud of spores released as the creature died made his eyes sting a little, but he brushed it off as he continued to rip him apart. He began to engorge himself on the remains of the creature before snapping out of it.

"God. What am I becoming?"

He leapt back down to join the four survivors. All around them were the dead bodies of the infected who had been attacking the woman.

"Are you alright? I was hoping you had stayed closer to me so that something like this didn't happen." Mike whispered. "Please, stay behind me. I promise, nothing bad will happen."

"Well, you did save Zoey from that smoker." Francis said gruffly. "We'll keep a closer distance."

Mike smiled a bloody smile. He could see the dark skinned one flinch. He sighed. Hopefully there would be a cure and this whole ordeal would be worth it.

"Follow me. I can see in the dark and can get us to safety," Mike said.

They nodded and Mike crawled along the subway floor, eyes trained ahead and ears pricked to every sound.

They made their way to the generator room. Mike leapt from generator to generator as they made their way to a small room. He saw the mini gun and felt a chill creep down his spine. He shook it off as he perched on top of one of the generators.

"We need to open that door. Louis, go throw the switch," the old one said.

Mike looked around. The loud noise of the door opening made him jump a little. He could soon hear the wails of the horde.

"Oh no ..."

He leapt down from the generator. The infected were flooding in, coming to attack his allies. He leapt at them, trying to get them to stop.

RAT-A-TAT-A-RAT-A-TAT-A-TAT!

Mike felt something slice through his leg. He had been shot! He shook it off and kept trying to take over the horde when he hit something rather soft and squishy. He looked up,

He was sure that what he was looking at had once been a human. He couldn't be sure, of course, but there were certainly some humanoid features. He could hear some what of a retching sound coming from the creature.

"BLEAUGH!"

He recoiled in horror as he was vomited on by the creature.

"That was uncalled for-"

Suddenly, he knew what this vomit was really for as the horde descended on him.

"They've got Mike!"

"Oh God, don't let them come here and get covered in this vile stuff as well," Mike thought allowed.

He closed his eyes, not wanting to witness the carnage that would befall his allies.

He opened his eyes to see that the horde was gone. Bodies littered the room.

"Come on, let's get to the safehouse," Louis said, helping up Mike.

Maybe they didn't need his help.

As they emerged onto the street, the smells of Zoey's wounds began to overpower him.

"Um, could you please bandage Zoey's wounds? It's ... becoming a bit difficult for me to concentrate," Mike growled, suppressing his hunger.

"Alright, just a moment," the old one replied. Mike rose up to guard them, looking around at the street to make sure they were safe to patch up her wounds.

"There's a safe house ahead, in that pawn shop!" the dark-skinned one cried out.

"Good. Go in there and I will keep watch again tonight," Mike said. "Some of the infected can throw cars so I wouldn't be surprised if they could pry off the door."

"I doubt that. Most of these zombies can't open doors." Francis said.

Mike flinched. The comment stung him. Yes, he was an infected, but surely he could open doors still.

He didn't want to attempt it and find out he was wrong though.

That night, he watched as two infected fought over a scrap of meat. He didn't want to think it was from one of their fallen comrades, but it was very likely that it was.

"You would do the same thing. You HAVE done the same thing. Stop patronising yourself," Mike said to himself.

He looked down at his hands. They were becoming incredibly bony, becoming even deadlier weapons. He though back to his attack on the creature they called the smoker. It was almost out of instinct that he was able to leap so high and rip him apart. Perhaps there was something good about this infection.

The dull ache in his stomach reminded him that there was nothing good about this. This rotted meat was not good for him and he knew it. He needed something fresh, something that wasn't diseased.

He would rather die than eat one of his new allies.


	3. What An Appropriate Name

Not One of Them

By Bling Bling Euro Necklace

Rating: PG-13 just to be safe

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead. It is property of Valve. This is sort of based on a dream I had a while ago. Please review but no flames.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews and faves on this story. I really appreciate hearing (reading?) feebback. To Gamerof1458: I've heard some people say that the Hunter was originally a freerunner or parkour enthusiast and I guess hoodies taped up in the fashion of the hunter's is a part of the style to make movement easier or something like that.

Chapter 3 – What an Appropriate Name

"We have to start the lift. It's the only way to get up there," the old man said.

"But the noise will attract more of them. There has to be another way through the warehouse," Zoey replied.

"There's a back way I know, through the cargo door," Francis responded. "It's um ... Where I would meet with my dealer."

"I thought you said you were clean, Francis. I'm surprised at you," Mike growled jokingly.

"Hey, I can do whatever I want now. There's no one to arrest me."

They headed to the cargo door to find it was locked.

"Man, They never used to lock this! Dammit!"

"We could try bashing it with something," Louis said.

They all looked at Mike. He sighed and began to claw at the cargo door. It came down after several strong swipes.

"Thanks man," Louis said. "Couldn't have done it without you."

Mike sighed. His claws hurt now. Hopefully he wouldn't have to use them anytime soon.

"We can get there from the sewers. All we have to do is go down the stairs through the generator room and get to the sewer grate." Francis said.

"Please. No more generator rooms. I don't think I could handle getting vomited on again," Mike growled.

They laughed and continued ahead.

As they snuck through the generator room, Mike felt that dull ache again. He needed food.

"Um, one moment allies. I need to ... get something."

They watched as Mike crept away from them. He crouched low, focusing on one of the infected. He snarled and coiled up before releasing like a spring at his intended victim.

It was down in one hit. He snarled and ripped apart his victim as if it were made of paper. He growled in pleasure as he swallowed the chunks of its lukewarm flesh. It would satisfy him for now. He ate his fill and left the remains on the ground to rot away.

"My God, Mike. Didn't know you had it in you," Francis said. "You seem like such a calm guy when you're doing Sun Salute."

"This virus does strange things to you. The sooner I get to a cure, the better," he replied gruffly.

With that, Mike disappeared into another room.

"There's a sewer grate in here!"

The stench in the sewer was sickening. Mike almost couldn't sense any of the other infected over the smell. He realised he had to rely on his sight more more than anything now. He could see some movement about a hundred yards away. They were coming.

"There is a horde of infected coming to your left. Ready yourselves and please, don't shoot at me this time."

The humans laughed and Mike sighed. This was not a joke. He wasn't invincible to bullets.

As the horde approached, Mike saw something that made his blood boil. It was a creature that looked like him. It leapt in the air at Louis. Mike didn't even have time to think through his reaction as he pushed Louis out of the way. He looked up to see the creature descending upon him. Their eyes met. Maybe he could reason with it. No, there was no life in the eyes of the creature that began to tear him apart.

"Oh God, this is how it ends? In a sewer pinned by an undead freerunner?" he thought.

He heard the gunshots start to fade away as the creature continued to rip him open. Was this what dying was like? Besides the being torn to shreds part, it was actually sort of peaceful. He started to close his eyes.

"Get off him!" He heard Francis' gruff voice shout through his haze.

Suddenly, he was being lifted up. He looked around. There were more bodies lying around now. What was going on?

"Hang on. We'll get to a spot where we can patch you up. You're going to be okay," a voice said.

Mike closed his eyes again. He just wanted to sleep now. He was too exhausted to even breathe. He felt them set him down gently on the ground.

"You can use my med it weren't for him, that would've been me being pinned by that Hunter."

His last thought before losing consciousness was "Hunter ... What an appropriate name ..."

He did not know how long he had been out, only that they were all in the same spot. He looked around at his comrades. They all sat around, calm and collected. Why all of this sitting around when there were kills to be had?

He wasn't sure of where this burst of energy came from or why his pain was suddenly gone, but he surely must have startled them for they all shot up and reached for their weapons.

"Calm down, everyone. We just have to get to the hospital." Mike said.

"Are you alright? You were just ripped to pieces by a Hunter hours ago and now you want to go running through the sewers?"

Suddenly, he knew. The virus. It was starting to take over. Soon, he would be one of the ones who they were trying to defend themselves against. One of those mindless creatures who only functioned off of their bare instincts.

"We need to get to the roof. I think that the virus is spreading faster through my body," Mike growled. "We have to get there before it's too late."

With that, they were off to the final part of the sewer. They looked up to see the grate. They knew that they were almost at the hospital.

"I'll go first. If there is anything up there, I can defend you from it," Mike whispered.

"Alright. Be careful," Francis said.

Mike nodded and clambered up to the street. He heard some soft weeping. He began to crawl over to the source. It was a woman who sat cross-legged right by the entrance of the hospital. Her skin was pale and her long hair fell into her face as she wept. He looked down and saw her long claws.

"Something isn't good about this," he whispered.

He turned around to see his comrades emerging from the sewer.

"Oh no! Light's out! It's the Witch!" Louis gasped.

"Should we sneak around her?" Zoey asked.

"I have an idea," Mike said. "I will create a diversion so she follows me and you can all go in and get to safety." He looked around and saw an ambulance. "You guys should hide behind that ambulance so that she doesn't see you when she comes after me."

As they hid, he crawled back over to the Witch. He coiled up, ready to spring away from her when she saw him. One swipe at her was all it took to set the Witch off. She let out a loud wail and rose up to her feet.

"Oh Shit."

Mike took off in the other direction, trying to lose her. He looked back to see that she was gaining on him. He sprang up into the air and leapt onto a building. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath and looked back to see the Witch fall into the sewer grate. He smiled and leapt back down to the street.

"That was too easy."

He spoke too soon. He watched her in terror as she began to climb her way back up to the street. He quickly scampered back to the lid of the grate and began to swipe it over to cover the hole.

"Nevermind."

He ran back to the hospital. The safe room door was still open.

"What are you doing? You need to close the door so none of the infected get in!" Mike cried.

"We were waiting for you," the old man said. "You really saved our asses out there. You're one of us now."

Mike tilted his head. He couldn't understand. They were allowing him into the safe room, even though he was infected?

"You're kidding, right?" He asked.

"Come in before someone finds us," Zoey laughed.

Mike cautiously crawled into the room. He sat on a pile of blankets in the corner of the room.

"You may want to take shifts watching to make sure that I don't turn. I just want you to be safe," Mike whispered.

The first shift was Francis. He sat close to Mike with a smile.

"I was wondering how you had fared the infection. I'm so sorry this happened to you, Mike."

"It 's alright, Francis. As long as there is a cure, I'll be okay."

"So ... What is it like?"

"It's horrible, Francis. The hunger is almost overpowering. You have no idea how good you look right now."

"Oh. Thanks?"

"It wasn't a complement."

"Oh."

There was silence as the two sat side by side. Francis looked at Mike and smiled. To anyone else, this would've been odd. Francis never smiled – but Mike knew differently. He had alwaysseen Francis' smiling face at yoga class. This smiling did confuse Mike, however, as they were in a life-or-death situation and here Francis had to keep watch over a hideous creature that could turn on him at any moment.

The next one to watch him was Zoey. She sat a bit father away. Mike could tell she was incredibly nervous, and her fear made him even hungrier.

"Um, it's alright Zoey. I'm not going to hurt you. Please don't be afraid," he said, hoping to calm her and the smell of her fear down.

She still was scared. He sighed. Perhaps he could start a conversation.

"So, how do you know Francis?" Mike began. "Is he your boyfriend or something?"

"Oh, God no!" Zoey said. "No, I didn't know him at all before the infection. He, Louis and Bill just rescued me from my dorm room a week after news of the infection hit. I do owe him for that ... but no, he isn't even my type."

Mike laughed raspily. He saw Zoey shudder.

"So ... uh ... Did Francis really do yoga?"

"Oh yeah! He was my best student," Mike smiled. "He was always early for class and helped me set up and he was the last to leave. He was such a helpful student. A really limber guy as well."

"Ah."

He couldn't wait until Zoey's shift ended. Her fear made him so hungry, he just wanted to leap at her throat and devour her.

Louis took over for her some time later. Already the stench of fear was gone from the air, making Mike feel more at ease. Louis did not sit as close as Francis, but he certainly wasn't as far away as Zoey.

"Hey man, thanks for saving my ass back there," Louis smiled. "I would've been a goner if it weren't for you."

"It was no problem, Louis," Mike said. "I didn't want any harm to come to any of you under my watch. Also, it was slightly instinctual. The need to protect ..."

He trailed off. He didn't want to reveal what he had been thinking about the survivors. After all, there were four of them and one of him ... and they had guns.

The time with Louis was cut short as Bill awakened and took over for him. No words were exchanged between Bill and Mike. Bill only sat across the room from him, staring at him somewhat coldly. He grabbed out a cigarette and lit it.

He puffed on it and then opened his mouth as if to speak, only to take another puff.

This was more uncomfortable for Mike than sitting with the frightened Zoey. At least Zoey spoke to him.

"In case you are wondering, no I am not angry at you. I'm always like this."

"Ah," Mike responded.

No more words were spoken. Mike curled up. Sleep would distract him from this awkward moment.

Perhaps he was better out sleeping outside of the safe room.


	4. What Does It Say?

Not One of Them

By Bling Bling Euro Necklace

Rating: PG-13 just to be safe

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead. It is property of Valve. This is sort of based on a dream I had a while ago. Please review but no flames.

Chapter 4 – What Does It Say?

"Maybe we can find the cure on the way to the roof. One of these rooms has to have a clue!" Francis said as they ran through the halls of the hospital.

Mike smiled weakly. He liked Francis' enthusiasm, but he was sure that it was too late. Already, simple human things were getting difficult. He had to hide it from his comrades, however, if he wanted to live.

As they went from room to room, all that they could find were dead bodies. He followed Louis into a room blocked by yellow tape. A simple swipe with his claws and the yellow tape was merely confetti.

The two looked around. Mike saw what he recognised to be papers all over the walls. He squinted at them, blinked, and began to realise.

"Louis? What does it say? I – I can't read it. It might as well be Chinese," he growled.

Louis looked at the papers and his eyes widened. All around him on the wall was failure after failure. He saw one paper that was written in blood.

THERE IS NO CURE!

He shook his head.

"What does it say, Louis?"

Louis could not speak. He staggered back and shook his head.

"Louis? Is it something about someone you knew?"

Louis looked at him and nodded. Mike sat up on his haunches and took his hand.

"Don't worry, Louis. When we get to the roof, we'll be rescued and maybe they will have a cure for them."

Louis nodded and continued to walk forward. There was no way he could tell him. He only could hope that Mike would not find out.

"Hey! We found the elevator! We can get up to the roof this way!" Francis' voice bellowed.

Louis and Mike ran to the elevator. Mike crouched in the corner.

"Okay, we know that they hate noise so when I push the button, everyone prepare to fight," Bill growled.

Mike snarled and coiled up. He would fight side by side with them for they were going to get him to the cure.

"Smoker!"

BOOM!

Mike watched the cloud of spored as the smoker's head exploded. He shook his head. He needed to remind himself that they would never shoot him like this.

"Fire in the hole!"

Mike watched the pipe bomb fly overhead as the infected followed it. He prayed that he would never be that mindless. Limbs flew past them as the horde exploded.

DING!

The elevator door opened.

"That wasn't nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be," Zoey said.

They ran into the elevator. Mike looked up to see the hole in the roof.

"Guys, I'm going to go up there and make sure no one comes down into the elevator car. Don't shoot up."

They laughed and Mike leapt up into the hole. He crouched down and looked around as the elevator car rose. He squinted up at the ceiling and sniffed the air. Something was not right. There was a foul stench. He knew the smell, but he couldn't identify whether or not it was a threat. The car jolted to a stop.

"Okay, when the doors open, be careful. This section hasn't been finished and we're almost thirty stories up. If we get pushed off, it's certain death," Bill barked.

The doors opened to reveal a very large infected man. He had boils and blisters all over his body. It was the same one that Mike had encountered before. The one who-

"BLEAUGH!"

Mike watched in horror as they were covered in the creature's vomit. Bill shot at it and it exploded. The survivors ran out of the elevator car and away from Mike's sight.

"No! Come back! You'll be ripped apart!" Mike cried out as he leapt out of the elevator.

He landed on a support beam and looked out. He could smell the stench of the creature's vomit and felt his hunger grow. He jumped down onto the floor and crawled through the unfinished building. He saw the swarm of infected and knew that that was where the food- no - his friends were.

With a shriek, he leapt up into the air. He could see Zoey and Francis fighting off part of the swarm and Louis shakily aiming his gun at something on the ground. As he got close, he could see the intended target. It was another man in a hoodie. A hunter as they called him. And he was tearing up Bill!

Mike leapt at the hunter and knocked him off of Bill. He snarled and began to claw at him. The hunter fought back with nearly the same intensity. Mike growled and stared into the dark, squinting eyes of the beast. He was NOT like him.

Mike bit down on the hunter's throat. He growled and ripped his head off as the creature let out a gurgling noise.

Something snapped in Mike's infected brain and he smelled blood. It was warm and fresh and smelled delicious. He leapt in the direction of the smell and landed on something that he knew would satiate his hunger.

"Oh my God! Get him off! Get him off!"

He didn't care for the noise it was making. He needed to silence the meal. He looked down into it's eyes. The fear was intoxicating.

"YIPE!"

He was hit by a hard blunt object and knocked off of his meal. He had enough time to remember himself and grab onto the ledge before he could fall the thirty stories to the street. He attempted to pull himself up.

"Mike!" He heard Francis cry out.

"He's gone, Francis. And it wouldn't have done any good if we found him. There is no cure. I found the doctor's notes in one of the rooms. He would've completely turned anyway," Louis replied.

An anger boiled in Mike's body as he began to pull himself up. He would get those worthless humans for lying to him.


	5. Just So You Know or The Rooftop Finale

Not One of Them

By Bling Bling Euro Necklace

Rating: PG-13 just to be safe

Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead. It is property of Valve. This is sort of based on a dream I had a while ago. Please review but no flames.

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews again.

Chapter 5 – Just So You Know or The Rooftop Finale

He could imagine the blood dripping down his chin as he ripped apart Bill. Hearing his screams would fuel his anger and hunger even more. It would make his flesh taste even better.

Zoey would be next. The smell of her fear was enough to drive him mad and he would finally release his madness as he ripped chunks of her flesh and swallowed them. She would be marvelous.

Louis ... He deserved it the most for lying to him. He would savor him, hearing his screams in pain as his gun lay just out of reach. He would eat him alive.

Francis – No ... Not Francis. He was his best student back when ... Had Mike ever been a human?

He knew he had once been human.

That was his only tie to them. It was the only thing that had kept them from killing him outright. They knew he had once been human.

But so had the others that he had seen the survivors blow apart. They were once human too and yet they were killed without a second thought. Why hadn't they just done the same to him?

Perhaps it was because he was the only one that spoke to them. He called himself a human, even though he knew he wasn't one. Not anymore at least.

He watched the rain fall outside. He was sure the transformation had been completed. He had tasted human flesh. He would never be able to eat another one of the infected. They weren't even close to the taste of a human.

Yet it still repelled him to think about this. He couldn't still be part way through the transformation. It didn't take this long for the infection to completely take over a person's body.

Perhaps the fact that he was thinking and actively fighting for his humanity was what was saving him. That was it. The infected did not think. They only acted on impulse.

A violent shaking snapped him out of his reverie. He scrambled to the edge of the unfinished floor and looked down to see a large, gorilla-like creature climbing up the side of the building. The helicopter had not come yet, Mike knew this. That meant that the humans were in trouble.

What did it matter to him? They wouldn't accept him now. They had just left him to die.

But something in the back of his mind told him to get to the roof. He had to protect them. Yes, there was no hope for himself, but they might be the hope for humanity.

He had made up his mind. Now he only had to get to the roof.

********

"We have fifteen minutes? Damn. They'll tear us apart in that time!" Louis said as he reloaded his gun.

"We can hold out on the roof," Bill barked. "Hurry! Get up there. We have to stick together."

Francis could not focus as he stood on the roof, trying to fight wave after wave of the infected. He didn't want to think about his teacher, his mentor, his friend, plummeting to his death while he just stood there, able to help him but not even trying. He didn't want to believe that there wasn't a cure, but there was no possible way that the infection could be reversed.

"Francis! Check your fire! You're wasting bullets! Stop shooting at nothing and start shooting some of these damn zombies!"

Francis nodded and aimed his gun. He looked through the scope of his rifle. He could see an infected man in a hoodie crawling on the ground. It was just a hunter.

He didn't shoot him, just to be sure.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Silence.

They looked around. It couldn't have been that easy to eliminate the horde.

"Is ... is it over?" Zoey asked.

"I don't know," Louis responded. "It seems too quiet."

The ground began to shake. They braced themselves, wondering what was going to happen.

RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!!!!

"Tank!" Louis cried out as he readied his gun.

The monstrous creature appeared to the left of the helipad. It looked up at them and then tore up a chunk of the concrete from the roof. He picked it up and threw it at the survivors.

"Oh God! Run!" Zoey cried out.

They each jumped from the roof, dodging the slab of concrete as it smashed above them. Bill turned around and began to empty clip after clip on the tank. Louis and Zoey jumped down to a lower part of the roof while Francis ran back into the radio room.

"How far are you guys? We're getting killed up here!" He shouted into the radio while shooting at the Tank from inside the building.

Click! Click! Click!

Bill was out of ammo. He froze as the Tank charged him. He didn't have time to react as he was slammed against a wall.

"Oh my God! Its got Bill!" Francis shouted.

Bill braced himself as the Tank rose its giant fist to hit him again.

It never came.

He looked up to see a familiar creature clawing at the Tank's face. He shook his head in disbelief.

"Mike!" Francis yelled.

Mike leapt off of the Tank and began to run in the opposite direction. The Tank chased after him, letting out a loud roar.

Louis and Zoey scrambled up the ladder to Bill and began to help him up.

"Well, looks like you're going to make it after all, Bill," Louis smiled. "Hurry, lets get to the helipad. The chopper should be here any minute now."

Louis and Zoey acted as crutches for Bill who watched as the Tank chased Mike.

"Looks like we might have been wrong about him," he mused before passing out from the pain.

"Hurry! get him up there and revive him!" Francis barked. He turned around, trying to see where Mike was.

RRRRAAAAGGGHHH!

Francis saw Mike fly through the air and hit a wall with a sickening crunch.

"Mike!" He cried out as he ran to him. "Oh God! No!"

Francis reached Mike and knelt next to his body. Mike weakly turned his head to look at him. Francis pulled out his med pack and began to try to heal Mike.

"Hold on, Mike. We'll get you out of here."

Mike looked up at him as his hood fell back. Francis looked into his nearly lifeless, dark eyes. He could still see a human emotion in it. He couldn't tell what it was, but Francis knew that Mike was not completely gone.

"Come on Mike, hold on-"

RRRRAAGGGHH!

Francis looked up and saw the Tank coming towards them. He looked back down at Mike who snarled at the monster.

"Stay back!"

Francis and Mike looked over at the helipad to see Zoey standing at the end of the ramp, Moltov in her hand. She threw it at the tank who caught fire quickly. It roared in pain and began to blindly swing its arms around.

"Come on! Come on!" Zoey shouted. "The helicopter's almost here!"

Francis scooped up Mike and held him close as if he were a child. Mike hung his arms over Francis' shoulder and watched as the horde started to return.

"Are you doing okay, Mike?"

"Grrrr."

Francis almost stopped. That was when he knew that Mike was really almost gone. Mike could no longer speak. They got up to the helipad. The horde was gaining on them. Francis set down Mike and cocked his gun.

"How are we going to get Bill on the chopper and hold back the horde?" Louis asked. "He's too heavy for us to lift alone."

Mike placed his clawed hand on Francis' arm. Their eyes met and Francis somehow knew what Mike was saying. He turned to the others as the helicopter landed.

"Mike will hold them off for us so we can get Bill onto the chopper," Francis whispered. "Are you sure you can do it, Mike?"

Mike nodded and tried to smile. Francis looked back as the chopper landed and Zoey and Louis' attention was directed toward Bill. He then looked at Mike again and hugged him tightly before rising and running to the helicopter, firing shots at the horde as he ran. Mike waved and lowered his hood.

He turned to the horde and snarled. He leapt up and began to attack the infected as they raced to the chopper. He felt the blood splash across his face as his claws sank into them. He growled and then turned around. The helicopter was starting to rise.

RRRAAAAGGHH!

Mike felt the ground shake. The Tank! It was still alive!

He turned and began to run to the helicopter, just as it started to rise up from the helipad. He coiled up and leapt at the landing skid, just barely grabbing it.

"Mike!" Francis exclaimed.

Mike looked up at him. Suddenly he felt something grab his legs, pulling him down. The helicopter wobbled in the sky. Mike looked back down and saw the Tank latched onto his legs. He could feel his body giving in to the strain the Tank was putting on it. He looked up at his former comrades. They had their guns aimed past him, but he knew that shooting the Tank wouldn't do any good. He looked up at Francis and let out a soft growl.

They met eyes and Francis knelt down as the helicopter wobbled more.

"Mike ... just so you know ... you were the reason that I went to yoga ..."

Mike smiled his first genuine smile in two weeks.

He let go of the landing skid, freeing the helicopter and his friends from the Tank.

As he fell to the earth, he watched the helicopter. They were going to make it, thanks to him. Yes, he was going to die, but at least humanity was safe.

That was when the helicopter clipped a building and spun out of sight. He had just enough time to think one last thought.

"Was it really worth it?"


End file.
